The Everfree Gang
by Protow
Summary: Spike has found a special place out in the Everfree Forest where he can just relax for once and have his own adventures, but soon more people find out about this place and that can only lead to one thing. Absolute fun.
1. Chapter 1

Spike was starting his normal walk through the dense woods of the Everfree Forests. For the past couple of afternoons he has been coming out to the forest to relax. To be away from all the worries and to have a little adventure on his own. As he fix his bag that he held over his shoulder he recalled on what he had done in the past few days. He had carved a nice wooden sword that he would sometimes use for a imaginary adventure. Also he had found a nice place to rest in the evening.

Speaking of a nice place Spike found what he had been looking for. A small clearing with an Oak Tree growing in the middle. Spike sat down on the soft grass and began to open his bag. Inside was some snacks that he had taken along with him. Inside the bag was a couple of small bread buns, a jam jar with peices of gems in it, and a spoon. He grabbed a bun and slightly warmed it with his fire breath. He then rested the bread bun on his knee while he went to open the jam jar. Once open he then used the spoon to spread some jam over the bread bun.

Taking his first bite of the sweetened bun Spike softly yawned. The Everfree Forest wasn't really that bad of a place. The warm afternoon wind with the shade of the tree, and also the softness of the grass made it comfortable enough to relax. Spike didn't have to worry about any predators that might attack him because anything and almost everything in this forest moved at night. While there was still some daylight out Spike could freely roam the forest as long as he didn't provoke any of the wild life.

As Spike finished his bun he reached into his bag for another. Then a sound peirced through Spike's ears. The sound of flapping wings. Quickly Spike gathered his belongings and climbed up the tree hoping he wouldn't be noticed. He soon found a nice place to sit and waited. Looking downard he saw four hooves hit the ground. 'No wait. Are those...paws and talons? Its a griffon.' Spike thought to himself. The griffon seemed to have a mailbag tied around it's mid-section.

The griffon then took off the bag and sat down on the ground. The griffon reached into the bag and pulled out a wrapped item. "Finally. I've been waiting to eat you all day." the griffon said. The voice sounded very familiar to the young dragon. Spike leaned forward to get a closer look, but in his haste he lost his balance and fell. "Aaaaaaahhhhh!" Spike screamed as he fell. "Huh?" asked the griffon before it had Spike land on it.

With a grunt of pain the griffon shoved Spike off of it. "You dweeb! What were you doing spying on me?!" asked the griffon. "Hey, I'm sorry I was just..." Spike stopped in mid-sentence as he looked at the griffon. The griffon was wearing a mail woman's cap and a vest. Her fur was light brown and her feather were white as snow. An light shade of purple feathers covered here eyes. Her violet eyes stared at the young dragon waiting for an answer.

"Gilda?" Spike asked. "Hmph. Took you long enough. You better be lucky I'm on my lunch brake dweeb." she said as she returned to her wrapped item. Quickly unwrapping it she revealed the containments of the wrapping. A big grilled cheese sandwhich. As she took a bite Spike's stomach began to rumble. "I'm not giving you any." Gilda quickly said. "Don't worry I brought something along with me too." Spike replied as he sat down by his bag.

The two continued to eat in silence. Only once Spike was nearly done with his bread buns did he speak. "So...what have you been up to?" He asked. The griffon looked down at the dragon as if he had just said something insulting. "Why would you want to know?" she asked harshly.

"I was just trying to ease the tension, but if you don't want to talk that is fine." Spike said as he began to eat his next to last bun. Gilda was about to eat the last part of her sandwhich when she started to think. It would be nice to get a few things off her chest. After all she may not get another chance and she sure wasn't going to pay money for someone to talk to her. "Fine." Gilda sighed. "After I left that party thrown by Pinkie I went back to the Griffon Kingdom to find a job. At first I could barely keep a job down because of my temper. Soon I decided to leave that place and search for another place to live. I sold my house and bought enough food and water to last me a couple of days." Gilda started.

"I found a small port town a couple hundred miles away and I looked for a good job. Most of the job were either taken or too boring, but I found an open spot for a delivery mare. So I applied. The pay is good and I get to travel a lot so I can't complain." Gilda finished. Spike listened to every word and was interested to knwo that Gilda was doing well. "So dragon boy. What have you been doing?" Gilda asked.

"What?" Spike asked. "You heard me. You asked to know about my life now I get to know about yours. So speak up." Gilda said. Spike then started to recall all of the adventures that he has had even how he found his special place. "Okay while I hardly believe any of that stuff is true. I can't stick around to argue with you all day. I have a package to deliver." said Gilda. As she was about to take off Spike stopped her from taking off. He handed her the last bun he had with the jelly perfectly coavering it. "I picked out all of the gems and sorry for landing on you earlier." Spike said.

Gilda just stared at the bun as if it was alive. After a few seconds of silence she quickly grabbed the bun and took to the sky faster than Spike ever saw her fly. If he had listened more carefully he would have heard her quietly say. "Thanks, dweeb.".

With that over Spike began to head on back. The sun was about to sink over the horizon and the moon was about to take it's turn in the sky. As he began to make it towards the entrance of the forest Spike could already hear Twilight scolding at him for being late to get home. Which he didn't care much. Ever since he found his new hangout he has been a lot less tense. Not even Rainbow Dash crashing into the library could ruin his mood, but soon that would all come to an end.


	2. Chapter 2

As Spike began to wake up the next morning he seemed to have trouble getting out of bed. His body urged him to just go back to the comforts of his nice little bed, but as usual Spike did not and continued to do his daily routines. After that he started to cook breakfast. It wasn't anything too fancy. It was just a breakfast of omlets and hashbrowns with a little bit of spices and seasonings.

Once the meal was done Spike had set the table and began to eat his share of the meal and waited for Twilight to decend the stairs. On cue the lavender unicorn began to come down the stairs with half closed eyes. As she struggled to sit down Spike quickly poured a cup of her favorite tea for her.

"Thank you Spike." Twilight said as she took a sip of the tea. With the warm liquid flowing down her throat and the sweet yes slightly sour taste starting her brain Twilight began to eat her breakfast.

"Your welcome Twi." said Spike. Before he could put another fork full of food into his mouth there was a knock at the door. "I got it." said Spike as he hopped out of his seat. When he answered the door he was met by a griffon, but not just any griffon. Gilda to exact.

"Hi Spike." she said as she reached inside her bag and pulled out two letters. "Here is your mail." she said. Then as quickly as she came she went. She flapped her powerful wings and took to the skies leaving a certain young dragon questioning her actions. "Why didn't she just put the mail in the mailbox?" he asked himself, but soon shrugged his shoulders as he went inside.

He handed Twilight the mail and continued with his breakfast. After a while Twilight spoke up. "Spike looks like you a letter." She said as she gave the dragon an envelope with his name on it. "How could I have missed that?" asked Spike.

Ripping open the envelope Spike saw the piece of folded paper inside of it and pulled it out. It read:

Dear Spike,

I'm off work for the rest of the day. Meet me at the tree at three o'clock this afternoon. Don't think about ditching me though. Or I might just hand deliver you another letter, this time with a little 'surprise' inside it.

Signed, Gilda

Spike was curious and kind of shocked as to why the griffon would want him to meet her and why would she go to the trouble to write a letter and hand deliver it. Although Spike never found out the reasoning behind it all he still wanted to know why Gilda was doing this. Spike looked at the clock that hung in the library and saw it was ten o'clock. He then finished his breakfast, collected some bits that he had been saving, and headed towards the door. Before he could open the door something stopped his movement.

Spike looked behind him and saw that a light purple magical aura was gripping his tail. "Where do you think your going mister? You have to wash the dishes." Twilight said. Spike sighed heavily as he tried to move towards the door. "Twilight...you do realize...argh...that its your turn to do the dishes right?" Spike asked as he struggled to move foward.

Twilight then quickly looked at her chore list and saw that Spike was right. It was her turn to do the dishes. With that she released the little dragon, only for him to stumble over and crash into the front door. "Hehe...sorry." Twilight apoligized. With a huff Spike got on to his feet and left.

The day continued with Spike going to the market to by some supplies that he needed at home. Then he helped at Sweet Apple Acres for a while. By the time he was done he looked at a clock that Applejack's family kept in their dining room. It was have passed two o'clock. Spike decided it was time to go on ahead and get his daily bag of bread buns and jam. As he walked out the home of the Apple family he ran into Applejack. "Leavin' so soon Spike? Ah haven't got a chance to thank ya yet." the farm girls said.

"Well you can. Can you give me some apple jam please?" Spike asked. "Well of course I can. Just hold on a minute while I fetch if for ya." Applejack said as she went inside the house. Then within a few minutes Applejack was outside again with a small bowl of apple flavored jam. As she gave it to Spike he said his farwells and headed into town.

Then a thought came to Applejack's mind. 'Ah wonder what Spike does in the afternoon?' she thought. As soon as that thought came into her head the memories of rumors started to resurface again. Rumors about how ponies saw Spike going into the Everfree Forest in the afternoon. Though she quickly ignored those rumors. "Heh. Ah'm pretty sure Spike wouldn't go in there. Heh, those ponies must be more blind than a bat." Applejack said to herself as she started to take inventory.

As Spike made his way through the small town of Ponyville he made a quick stop by Sugarcube Corner and bought his daily bag of bread buns. Then as usual he went towards entrance of the Everfree Forest, making sure that nopony was looking at him.

Spike followed the trail that he had made during his first visit to his special place. He remembered it like it was yesterday.

_After getting into yet another agruement with Twilight. Spike decided to go for a walk. He was unaware of where he was heading exactly, until he found out that he had walked right into the Everfree Forest. Scaried out of his mind the little dragon tried to find a way out of the forest and get back home. After a couple of minutes of searching his efforts seemed futile. Realizing that he was lost in the jungle of twisted vines Spike hung his head in defeat. He had let his tail hang low to the ground as it created a small trail, then he happened to have stumbled upon a clearing that held a giant oak tree in the middle. The grass was softer that the grass that covered the rest of the Everfree Forest, the flowers added to the beauty of it too, and along with the light of the afternoon sun the place looked wonderful._

_ Then a calming sensation consumed Spike. It was as if he was being sung to sleep by a magistic lullaby. With the last of his strength Spike had settled down next to the oak tree and closed his eyes. After a while Spike was awakened by the sound of a pony calling his name. A certain pony that he knew would have his head if she found out that he was in the Everfree Forest._

_ After that it was a short journey through the Everfree Forest and a couple of apologies followed by a week long punishment for coming home so late._

Spike sighed as he finished with his flashback. 'Hmm. I wonder what I should call this place. How about... The Garden of Peace. Yeah that has a nice ring to it." Spike thought. Soon he found the exit to The Garden of Peace. It was there that Spike saw something the he never though he would ever see in his life. Gilda was wearing a dress.

Before Spike could say anything Gilda quickly said, "Not one word Spike. Not. One. Word.". Obeying the griffon's order Spike didn't say anything and quietly walked over to his spot next to the tree and settled down. Reaching into his bag to grab a bread bun Spike heard a small growling. He then turned around to find out what was making that noise. He soon found his answer as he saw Gilda clutch her stomach. "You hungry?" Spike asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Gilda answered. Spike then grabbed two bread buns and reheated them to were they were soft and fluffy. Then using a spoon he put a half a spoonfull of jam onto the two bread buns. "Here. I know its not much, but it makes you feel satisfied." Spike said. Without a moment's hesitation Gilda quickly grabbed the two jam covered treats and devoured them within a minute.

Spike had to make sure that his hand was still intact from the griffon sudden food frenzy. "For a second there I thought I lost my writing hand. You do know I need that hand right?" Spike asked with a worried tone. Gilda sighed for a moment.

"Sorry. I was just so hungry. I had to go to my cousin's ballroom dance and all I had to eat was cheese on a stick. Because for some reason the guy who was suppose to deliver the food some how disappeared." Gilda said.

"Why would you go to a ballroom dance?" asked Spike.

"It was either that or have my parents cut off my monthly allowance."

"Yeesh why don't they just kill you."

"Thats what I said."

After some silence and some eating Spike began to think. "Hey Gilda." he said. His statement was responded by the griffon starring back at him. "Why did you want to hang out with me?" he asked. The griffon merely scuffed and said, "Because I didn't have anything else to do. Besides your the only person I can talk to who I haven't gotten all protective over."

"What do you mean be that?" asked Spike. At that moment Gilda realized what she just said and slightly blushed, but not to a point to were it was noticable. "Did I really just say that?" Gilda asked with her head hung low. Spike nodded his head in responce.

"Then I guess there is no way out of this. Okay what I am about to tell you is only to be kept between the two of us. And nopony else. Got it?" Gilda said. Before Spike could say anything Gilda interupted him. "I might as well warn you about what will happen if you do tell anypony. Do you remember anypony by the name Extreme Blitz?" She asked.

"No." said Spike

"Exactly." said Gilda

Now that Spike was wide eyed in fear Gilda began to tell her story. "It all began a long time ago. When me and Dash had our first day of Flight School."


	3. Chapter 3

_ I had landed on a cloud not too far from where my parents had dropped me off. I then turned around to say my goodbyes to my parents as I headed towards my destination. Then I soon found herself in front of a tall school building made completely out out of clouds. "Okay Marvella. You can do this." I said to myself. After the short pep talk the I slowly walked into the building, but I was met with a surprise on the other side._

_ A bucket of cold water was thrown at me. With my feathers and fur wet and the cold seeping into my skin I didn't think anything could get worse. Until a well place bag of flour was poured onto me. Turning me into a white blob of feathers, fur, and a flour mixture._

_ It turns out that I had fell for a prank that a couple of upper classmen had planned. At the time I didn't know what to think. From what my parents told me school was a place where I could learn new thing and make friends. This wasn't what I had in mind. Soon laughter began to fill my ears as the upper classmen found their new victim had fallen for their trap. I was overwhelmed with fear, dissapointment, and regret. Us Raventails have always been known as tender hearted. So hearing all these insults and laughter aimed towards me I wanted to cry. Soon the laughter and mockery had drove me over the edge and I ran deeper into the school_

_ I had found my way to the girl's bathroom. While inside the I had found a corner to cry in. I soon deeply wished that my parents would come and get me so I could escape this place. While I continued to cry the door of the girl's bathroom opened. A cyan filly walked in with a frizzed rainbow colored mane. "Stupid upper... zzzzzz... classmen." she said as she walked towards the mirror. "Aw man. My mom is going to kill me when I get... zzzzzzz... home."_

_ Through the reflection of the mirrors the cyan filly saw me in the corner and sighed. "They got you too huh?" she asked. I slowly nodded head. "Well don't feel bad. They do this thing to everypony who is new here. Even little kids like us. You know I bet that..." the cyan filly was cut off by the bathroom door being opened and quickly being closed._

_ A filly with a yellow coat and a lovely long pink mane came into the room. She was breathing heavily when she came into the room. Voices could be heard from outside saying that they had no idea somepony like that could fly so fast. Once the voices faded the yellow filly fell down to the ground and gentle stroked her pink mane. "They...they got you too?" I asked. The filly shook her head as she continued to stroke her pink mane._

_ "Well. Since we all have something in common here. I say we get to know each other. You know make friends," the cyan filly said "The name is Dash. Rainbow Dash.". She held out a hoof. Seeing as to how this was my chance to actually make a friend while I was in here I placed my talons on top of Dash's hoof. "Marvella Gilda Raventail. Though you can just call me Gilda." I said. The cyan pony's eyes lite up. "Hey I know you. I saw you and your parents at the Junior Speedsters Flight Camp sign ups. You looking forward to when we actually go?" said Rainbow Dash._

_ "You bet. Though I hope they don't prank us like this." I said. The we shared a laugh as the other filly slowly walked over towards us and held out her hoof shakingly. "M..m...my name is Fluttershy." _

_ "Hey I saw you too. Heh from what those upper classmen said you should have no problem what so ever fitting in at Flight camp." Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy gulped as she softly said "Well...I-I...wouldn't...c-call it flying...more...like...um...speed running." I grabbed hold of my new found friends and said with glee"Well what ever you call it. It looks like the three of us have a head start at finding friends for Flight Camp."_

_ While we laughed for a bit the door to the bathroom opened once more. "Yo guys I found them." said a teenaged girl as she called for her friends. Upon hearing the approaching steps of the teenaged mare's backup our eyes went wide. The rest of the day was filled with many pranks, but surprisingly the we had all our classes together._

_ Then for the rest of our time at Flight School Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and I were the best of friends. That was until I came to school with surprising news._

(0.*.*.0)

"What happened?! Did your parents get into a tragic accident?" asked a curious Spike. For a second Gilda looked shocked at what the dragon just said, but soon sighed as she gave him a little punch to the shoulder. "Ow!" responded Spike. "Stop interrupting and don't ask questions like that. I was about to tell you what happened anyway." said Gilda.

(0.*.*.0)

_"Your what?" Rainbow Dash nearly screamed. I sank furthered into my seat, feeling as though I should have kept my beak shut. "I'm sorry, but my dad got a promotion and he says that the move will get me into a better school." I said. _

_ "I don't care if it gets you into Canterlot School for the Gifted! I don't want you to leave! I don't want to lose you too." Rainbow Dash yelled. Tears fell from her eyes as she stared at me. I had never seen Rainbow Dash cry before. Mostly it was Fluttershy that was the one to cry. "Rainbow..." I tried to say, but Dash took off into the hallways of the school._

_ I was confused as to why she was so mad and at the same time so sad at the same time. Though I never found out the answer. After that day my parents and I moved. I would no longer go see my friends again, until Flight Camp started. _

_ Then when Flight Camp started I rarely saw much of Fluttershy though. I soon began to build a wall around the memories that Rainbow Dash and I made fearing that I would later on in life rarely see her and forget about her too. We were like two peas in a pod. I knew her like the the back of my talons and she knew me like the wings on her back. It used to be just us, a griffon and a pony against the world. Standing side by side. Then after a long time passed since I last met her and she started to make new friends. _

_ And griffons are very protective about the people they hold dear and you have seen how that turned out._

(0.*.*0)

"Whoa. You used to know Fluttershy?" asked Spike. Gilda nodded as she took a bit out of a bread bun. "Yeah, though since I haven't seen her in a long time my memory of her was faded. I found out who she was from an old fashion magazine." said Gilda. "Though I still can't see why that shy pegasus would be a model. From what I heard she is afraid of her own shadow."

Spike had a quick laugh while the griffon looked at him as if he had a disease. "If you had seen what the things the mare has done you would doubt every thought you had about her." said Spike as he sighed.

A brief moment of silence passed before anything was said. Spike who had been in this place longer than Gilda heard the melody that gave this place the title 'The Garden of Peace'. With his eyes half closed and with a wide smile the dragon asked "Can you hear it?".

"Hear what?" Gilda asked in responce. Spike yawned before replying. "There is a reason why I come to this place. A reason why I named this place The Garden of Peace. If you listen closely and relax you body you can hear it. A faint melody that plays throughout this forest. From what I have experienced... its really... soothing." said Spike as he embraced warm welcome of slumber.

Gilda couldn't believe it. The little guy actually fell asleep on her. In the short time that she had got to know the baby dragon she already knew that he shouldn't have been asleep so early. Then Gilda began to think about what Spike just said. "A melody playing through out the forest? Ha, like that is ever going to happen." Gilda said to herself. Though it doesn't seem like it could be all that bad to try.

Gilda positioned herself in the most comfortable position she could get into. Then slowly she relaxed her muscles. She felt relief all of a sudden. She could feel the softness of the grass and the warmth of the air that flowed in the area. Gilda smiled at this. It was almost like having a nice soft bed with a warm blanket covering her, sheilding her from any harsh element that tried to disturb her.

It was then she heard it. A soft melody coming from a distance. The melody was like a soft lullaby that her mother used to sing to her before bed when she was a child. It brought a tear to her eye as she too embraced the warm welcome of her own slumber.


	4. Chapter 4

Gilda was the first to wake up from here slumber. As she streached her muscles she began to take a survey of her surroundings. The sun had disappeared from view and the moon was beginning it's turn in the sky. "Awwwww, what happened?" Gilda asked. Then she began to remember what happened. She started to chuckle

'Hmph. This little pipsqueak actually got me to do that. Not that I didn't like it. I mean that was the best nap I ever took, but still.' Gilda thought as she stared at the sleeping baby dragon who was still resting against the tree trunk. With a sigh Gilda nodged Spike to wake him up. "Just five more minutes." Spike said. Gilda chuckled again.

"Sorry Spike, but nap time is over. Come on I'll give you a ride home." Gilda said. Spike slowly got up on his feet and then he climbed onto Gilda's back with some minor problems, but soon Spike was resting on top of the griffon. "Hold on tight!" Gilda said as she took off into the night sky.

She loved the feeling of the wind blowing in her face as she flew through the skies. It made her feel free of anything that could possibly bother her. Then she heard it. The sound of someone snoring and the feeling of something wet dripping onto her back. Gilda took a quick glance at Spike only to find out that he was passed out and that he was drooling. "Oh come on dude! Not on the feathers!" Gilda yelled. Spike only responded with a low grumble. "Hmph. If you didn't have friends in high places I would drop you you know." Gilda said angrily.

"Heh...your bluffing." said Spike weakly. At the comment Gilda was had lost her nerve. How dare this little dragon mock her. As she was about to let the dragon slide off her back something stopped her. All of a sudden her body disobeyed her commands and continued to fly. Once again Gilda tried to flip over, but once again her attempts failed. Gilda sighed in defeat as she continued with her flight.

"See...told you...bluffing." Spike said weakly. Gilda grunted as she soon began to decend into the town of Ponyville. Upon her landing she could see now that the lights in the small town have appeared to have gone out. As Gilda walked through the town she couldn't help, but feel like she was being watched. Though she shook off that feeling soon enough.

After a couple of minutes of walking Gilda had found that there was still one house that had their lights on. "Is this...a tree?" Gilda asked herself. The griffon now stood before a tall tree that seemed to have been hollowed out to make a lovely home. Gilda walked up to the front door and knocked. Then she heard voices coming from inside the tree, very familiar voices.

"I got it!" a voice said from inside. It was then that Gilda figured out who was inside the tree house. She quickly decided just to leave the dragon on her back on the door step and quickly take to the sky, but as fate would have it the door was opened before she could move an inch.

A cyan pegasus mare with a ranbow colored mane had answered the door. Gilda had frozen in her tracks as the cyan mare stared at her with a blank expression. The two stared at each other for what seemed like hours before a single word was spoken, but soon the pegasus began to speak. "Let me guess. You had to go to a very important meeting or your parents would have cut off your money supply." the pegasus said.

Gilda sighed in relief. She was glad that her old friend's first words weren't words of hatred. "You know me so well Rainbow." Gilda said sheepishly. "Come inside before you catch a cold or something." Rainbow Dash said plainly. As Gilda walked inside the house she was met with a series of gasps.

"What is she doin' here?" said Applejack

"Why is she wearing that lovely dress?" asked Rarity

"Did she bring any sweets?" asked Pinkie Pie

"eep!" said Fluttershy as she hid behind Applejack

"Hey is that Spike on her back?" asked Twilight

It was then that the whole room went quiet for about a minute before the six mares screamed "SPIKE!". With the combined screams of the mares the baby dragon jumped into the air. He soon landed on his side as he fell back down. "Ohmygoshspikeweneverthoughtwewouldseeyouagain!" Pinkie Pie said very fast. The six mares soon gathered around the baby dragon and gave him a giant hug.

"Aw thanks guys, but could you do something for me?" Spike said. "What is it dear?" asked Rarity. Spike took a deep breath before he continued. Once his lungs were fill with air he yelled "FOR PETES SAKE LET ME GET SOME SLEEP!". Scared by the dragon's sudden outburst Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all seperated and let Spike go. He climbed his way upstairs, but stopped midway.

"Gilda." he called. "What?" Gilda responded. Spike yawned. "There is a plate in the fridge ...yawn...you can have the last of whatever is in there. Consider it a...yawn...thank you present." Spike said as he continued his way up stairs. Once the sound of Spike's snoring could be heard all eyes in the room stared at Gilda.

"Ah believe you have some explainin' to do sugarcube." Applejack said with a stern tone. Gilda gulp before telling the six mares what happened. Over the next few minutes Gilda explained how she found Spike and why it took him so long to get back. Though she did edit the truth a bit hoping that Spike wouldn't get into too much trouble.

After Gilda told what happened she waited for the response of the six ponies in the room with her. "Eh. Seems legit to me." said Rainbow. Her comment was replied by the the other five mares yelling, "What!?".

"Rainbow you can just trust what she says. Shes a meanie and a bully." Pinkie Pie said.

"I'm going to agree with Pinkie here Rainbow. I mean for all we now she could have tricked him into doing something that is probably bad." Twilight said.

Gilda was now looking at Rainbow Dash waiting for her to say something. Normally Rainbow Dash would have said something by now, but it looked as if she was in deep thought. Which made Gilda start to freak out a bit. Soon Rainbow came up with an answer. "Sure she has done a lot of bad things before, but that doesn't mean we can't forgive your right?" she said. "Rainbow...?!" Pinkie Pie tried to say, but was interupted. "Let me finish Pinkie."

Rainbow Dash walked up to Gilda witha blank face. "Though first she has to apologize.". Gilda jumped back at that comment. "Dash you can't be serious. You know I'm not good with apologizing." Gilda said. "Than this will be a test of how much you feel sorry for what you did. If you apologize that we will believe you story and if you don't you have to leave." Rainbow Dash said with a certain fire buring in her eyes.

Gilda thought about what would happen in the following events. If she choosed to swallow her pride and apologize she would have one of her friends back and she would no longer feel guilty. Or she could choose to leave and possible never come back and not be able to hang out with Spike. Gilda flinced at the lost option she did like to hang out with the little guy it was almost like having a little brother.

Bringing up her courage she did something she never thought she had to do. She took a deep breath and said "I'm sorry for what I did and I promise that it will never happen again."

The room went silent once again as the ponies tried to register what just happened. The one who looked most shocked was Rainbow Dash. "What?" Gilda asked.

"You... you apologized!" Dash responded. Gilda scuffed. "Well what do you think I would do? Let you show me up? Plus if I didn't I probably wouldn't get to see Spike anymore." the griffon said.

"Oh I see how it is." Rarity said. The white mare's seemed to have lit up. "You have fallen in love with Spike and you couldn't bare to see your love be torn away from you like that. So when push came to shove you stood up for your love." she continued.

"Rarity ah think you've been readin' too many of those books of your's." Applejack said.

"I second that." Rainbow Dash said

As the ponies began to start argueing about romance novels and other stuff Gilda had went to the fridge and grabbed a small brownie that was in the place Spike said it would be. She quickly left the house and took off into the sky.

On her way home she kept thinking about what the white mare had said. 'Heh. Like I would fall in love with that little pipsqueak. That'll never happen in a million years.' Gilda thought to herself


	5. Chapter 5

Spike had awakened that morning later than usual. Though these were the effects of The Garden of Peace. Spike has experienced its powers many times, but there was always a bad side to it. The effects made him oversleep and he would wake up to a slightly annoyed Twilight.

Spike soon quickly ran down the stairs hoping that Twilight might have overslept. As he reached the bottom of the stairs he saw that Twilight was sitting at the table drinking some tea. "I see your awake Spike." Twilight said. "I'm not mad at you. In fact I'm quite worried."

"Why would you be worried?" Spike asked. Twilight set her cup of tea down on the it's saucer and got up. She cleared her throat to speak "For the past couple of days ponies have been starting rumors saying that in the afternoon you head into the Everfree Forest. Though as crazy as that sounds it does seem to corespond with your absence in the town lately. And from what Gilda told us last night I now know where you go in the afternoon and why." Twilight said. For a second Spike thought his heart had stopped. His mind immediatly started to think of what Twilight would say and do. If some how Twilight had found out about him going to The Garden of Peace that it would be all over. She would personally see to it that he wouldn't leave this town without her say so.

For what seemed to be hours were just a mere minute before Twilight said anything. "You've been sleep walking." she said. Spike mentally sighed. " It all came together last night. Your irregular sleeping patterns, your absence in the town, and the rumors all came together. During the afternoon on your time off you would simply dose off and for some reason you would start sleep walking. You have seemed to have gotten lucky the past couple of days, until your luck ran out. I never thought I would be saying this, but thank Celestia that Gilda found you." Twilight said as she gave the little dragon a hug.

Twilight hugged Spike so tight that he could feel the oxygen leaving his body faster than Pinkie Pie eats sweets. "Twilight...your crushing my lungs." Spike said in a raspy voice. Realizing how hard she was hugging the young dragon Twilight let go. Spike fell to his knees as he tried to regain his breath.

"Sorry Spike." Twilght apologized. Spike who was still catching his breath was able to say "No problem.". After a couple of minutes Spike regained his breath. "Well Spike I have decided that for the next week we will find out what caused your sleep walking." Twilight said. Spike sighed knowing that his week was now ruined.

Over the course of the next week Twilight tried to find out what was Spike's problem, but never found it out. Though she was not sure what caused Spike 'sleep walking' she decided that it was just a one time thing. Throughout the entire week Spike was on lockdown and was only able to go outside when they needed supplies. In his lockdown Rarity came over to visit along with more of his friends. Each bringing hims something to help with the boredom. He also sent letters to Gilda who in return sent some back. Sometimes even hand delivering them.

On the final day of Spike's lockdown Gilda had dropped by to visit. They both sat down and talked about what happened to them. Spike didn't have much to say since he was stuck inside all week, but soon something came to him. One day the Cutie Mark Crusaders had came into the library asking Twilight if they had any books on bee ponies. Upon asking why the three fillies wanted such a book they replied by saying that they might have went into the Everfree Forest and found a hive of them.

"You really think they found a hive a bee ponies?" asked Gilda. Spike shrugged his shoulders. "You would be suprised what you find in there." Spike said plainly. They continued their conversation until it the moon was in the sky. Gilda and Spike said their goodbyes as Gilda started her flight back home. Spike yawned as he started his climb upstairs and into his bed.

Twilight had just finished some of her research and decided that she should go to sleep until she heard a knock at the door. The library was closed and no one was up at this hour. Well except for her. As the light purple arua began to cover her horn Twilight used her magic to open the door and saw who was at the door. Rarity had came. "Rarity what are you doing here?" asked Twilight. "Oh, I just came to return these books and maybe check out some more. I was so wrapped up in making my designs and making this dress for a client that I forgot to bring these.

Rarity used her magic to levitate three thick books over to Twilight who took the books in her own magic arua. As Rarity came inside she began to look around for any books that looked interesting. "Oh, Twilight." Rarity called. "Yes." Twilight responded. "I've been meaning to ask you something dear, but it keeps slipping my mind. I would like to know do you really buy Gilda's story?" Rarity asked.

The lavender unicorn chuckled. "Of course not. I just decided to play along to see if I could get anymore information. Though I have to admit for a couple of minutes I actually believed her, but I know better than to trust her too soon." Twilight said.

"Then why did you spend a week testing Spike to see why he was sleeping walking?" Rarity asked. Once again Twilight chuckled. "I wasn't really testing him. I was just putting him on punishment for going into the Everfree Forest." Twilight said.

Rarity walked up to the check out counter where she placed two thick books. "Wow Twilight. I never though you would do such a thing." the white unicorn gasped. Twilight blushed a little as she checked out the books Rarity had selected. "I didn't really plan it." she said. The two said their goodbyes as Rarity left the library and Twilight locked the door behind her and headed to bed.

The next day felt like someone had gave Spike an endless supply of gems to eat for the rest of his life. He was finally free to go out into Ponyville and do what he wanted to do. This lead up until three o'clock. Which was right around the time Spike would usually go into the Everfree Forest. Though Spike knew that even if Twilight let him go she would still have somepony keep on eye on him. It was a couple of yards away. The enterance of the forest was just ahead of him. With quick breath Spike took off into the forest.

As Spike began to enter The Garden of Peace he saw something in the tree. A treehouse. Well half of one any way. The floor was done along with two of the walls. And sitting up against the tree with her legs crossed was none other than Gilda. "Took you long enough." Gilda said as she streched. The griffon launched into the air and flew over to Spike. "Surprised?" she asked.

"How did you do this in a week?" Spike asked. Gilda pointed at a zebra that had fallen asleep next to the base of the tree. "I had some help." the griffon responded. Spike looked and saw who the griffon was pointing at. It was a familiar zebra with a saddle bag next to her. "Zecora!" Spike said a bit louder than he wanted to. The zebra in question began to stir in her sleep and soon was fully awake. She looked around for a bit and found Spike with Gilda a couple of feet from her.

"Ah its good to see you young Spike. To what do I owe this delight." Zecora said. "Its nice to see you too Zecora." Spike said as he gave the zebra a hug. "So. What do you guys want to do?" Spike asked. Zecora was the first to respond. "I was planning to get some herbs for a potion and I hope to set those plans in motion." Zecora said.

"I was hoping to check out those bee ponies. You know to see if they really exist." Gilda said. At once the zebra jerked her head in the direction towards the griffon. Her eyes held a stern look in them as she walked towards Gilda. "While I don't care what you do in your spare time I must highly recommend you stay away from that hive. Those bee ponies nearly silenced me to protect their family. If you value you life don't let me warn you twice." Zecora said.

Gilda almost lost it. The zebra was trying to stop her from doing what she wanted to do. She didn't care if she was warning her. If she wanted to do something she was going to do it and she wasn't about to let some zebra tell her what to do. Though before Gilda could do anything Spike stepped in and reassured Gilda that Zecora was just warning her not to go and that she didn't mean any harm. Gilda seemed to calm down after that.

"I hope my warning was clear. Now I must be going on for the night is coming near." Zecora said as she began to trot of into the Everfree Forest. Once she was gone Gilda huffed. "Who does she think she is? I can go wherever I want and no one is going to stop me." Gilda said as she took off into the Everfree Forest. Spike sighed as he hesitated to go further into the forest, but the idea of Gilda getting hurt filled his mind. He soon started to run after the mad griffon who was going deeper into the forest.


End file.
